Written by Efe Plange
It is official, sex tapes have become an epidemic and we need to do something about it! When did we get here?
A section of a Ghanaian university, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), have supposedly mounted a giant screen to publicly showcase a sex tape allegedly involving a first-year female student. Already, I have heard the usual passive-aggressive comments dressed up in acts of genuine concerns. Women and men alike are asking, why do these girls agree to be videotaped during sex? Why are they fooling around with campus boys, and what is happening to our youth; but I insist, that is not the real problem!
Seriously are we still trapped in these one-sided considerations? When I highlighted the underlying issues during the Wizkid-Linda Ikeji issue some fraction of my readers thought I was overthinking things. This scenario is not any different from that. That our boys, men and society in general hold women alone to sexual comportment is becoming a little alarming. Our boys are basking in the fact that they are never alluded to this ridiculous and unfair social convention that somehow, lets them off the hook and never demands much from them in terms of responsibility.
These sort of reactions are exactly what the boys involved are hoping for. That all attention be directed to the girl while they bask in their boyhoods and manliness. The more we continue to put sexual responsibilities on the girls alone, the more we take it away from boys. This act of stealthily or knowingly recording and leaking sexual acts is extremely irresponsible on both parties. But once we keep sensitizing girls alone we continue to tell our boys that is okay to behave in that manner.
Sex is primarily between two parties. Therefore, both parties deserve whatever ‘consequence’ that emanates from this. The ridicule, the chastisement (even if necessary at all), should go to both parties. Most importantly, it is about time legal charges are established to deal with the perpetrators. Maybe if we start from there, this would stop being the best way to bring down a woman.
The usual reaction from the public in actively circulating these tapes simultaneously also reveals our own hypocrisy. As a woman, I am sad, I am heartbroken that this lady is found in a society as ours because I know how gravely she stands to suffer from this unfortunate act. Already her name, program of study and residence are being circulated on social media. Without the right social support, she might never recover from the trauma.
A little education for my audience
Sex is a drive, very similar to your food cravings. This drive functions in both genders. If as a society we deem it necessary for caution to be taken in responding to this drive for the sole advancement of society, we need to start actively engaging boys as well. In any case, sex is not a crime. If the act occurs between two consenting adults then our usual uproar is very much hypocritical of us. This is no more a moral question, this is very much a legal and logical appreciation.
Efe Plange is founder and editor of Sankofa Reviews. She is a Graduate Teaching Instructor, and recently concluded a Master’s degree in Rhetoric and Technical Communication at Michigan Technological University. She is passionate about the Arts and Cultural industry and her background in the field is fueled by a longstanding dream of seeing theory work together with practice. Connect with Efe on social media: efplange_gh on both Instagram and Twitter, and Efe Plange on Facebook.
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